Venom
Venom (ヴェノム, Venomu) is a character in the ''Guilty Gear'' series of fighting games, who first appears in Guilty Gear X. Like many other characters in the series, Venom uses a very unusual weapon: a pool cue. Many of his special attacks involve the use of the stick and billiard balls. Character Design Venom is a fit man with dark skin. He has white long hair that has a unique blue eye design and covers a pair of blue eyes. He sports a white open vest that goes down only to his upper chest. His matching pants only cover his waist and left leg, as his right leg is covered by a black legging. He also wears matching black gloves and boots, and his whole attire is decorated with black attachments on his arms, legs and waist. In Guilty Gear Xrd, the words "Settle with Elegance" are written on several parts of his uniform along with "British Elegance" on his vest's buckles. Gallery [[Venom/Image Gallery|'Venom's Image Gallery']] Personality Despite being an assassin, Venom is a gentle and honest man who can barely bring himself to lie. He speaks with rigidity and seems to favor logic and reason above all, but he places high importance on empathy, emotion, and his own humility. However, if one is to openly declare themselves as an enemy of Zato-1, it will ignite a rage within Venom that cannot be easily extinguished.http://guiltygear.us/ggxrdr/characters/ Story Background Venom was an orphan rescued by the Assassin's Guild. He appeared to be rather gifted as he could kill with anything that he got his hands on. However, he inherently despised killing, rendering his lethal talents all but useless. The Guild was prepared to execute him when he was rescued by the former leader of the Guild, Zato-1. Zato saw Venom's potential and took him in as his apprentice. From there on, Venom was eternally grateful to Zato for saving his life, and pledges his loyalty to him, even after Zato's death. ''Guilty Gear X'' Around this time, Zato-1 goes missing, so Venom sets off to find his master. Eventually, he finds Zato-1, but Eddie has almost taken complete control of Zato-1. In one ending, Venom defeats Eddie, but Zato seems to be inert, if not catatonic. In the other ending, Venom feigns defeat to lure Eddie into his own body, whereupon he reveals his trickery to Eddie and indicates that he will sacrifice himself to kill Eddie and save Zato. ''Guilty Gear XX'' Venom's Story Mode begins with Slayer's dissolution of the Assassins Guild. Angry at the perceived disrespect for Zato-1's authority as leader of the Guild (albeit absent authority), Venom trains himself to eventually challenge Slayer, defending all that is left of Zato. In the first ending, Venom defeats Slayer. Although, as Slayer wryly points out, Venom is still not strong enough to destroy him. He then locks Slayer in an iron coffin. In another ending, Venom is distracted by a chance encounter with Eddie and chases him. Soon after fighting and defeating Eddie, he collapses and dies. In his third ending, he also meets Eddie by accident, but when he finds him, Millia Rage has already fought and won, and killed Zato as well. Enraged, Venom kills Millia, then pledges his loyalty and life to Zato's soul. ''Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus'' Despite bringing the Guild back from the edge of destruction, Venom fails to find any joy in his work. He sets out to find Millia so he may stop having nightmares about Zato. In one of his endings, he spares Millia after deciding her death would accomplish nothing, and turns his attention to the Post-War Administration Bureau, if only for the sake of picking a fight. In the other, he kills Millia and, still feeling empty and unhappy, destroys all feelings he had for Zato. He disbands the Guild and becomes a traveling pool player. Upon his travels, he meets an orphaned boy named Eddie, whose village had just burned down. After confirming he had nowhere to go, Venom adopts him and takes him on his journeys. ''Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-'' 5 years after the events of XX, Venom remains the leader of the Assassin's Guild, and has been working hard to improve the Guild's reputation. One day, he receives a contract from the Conclave, and is surprised at what they are offering in exchange - they claim that they will resurrect Zato. Suspicious as to the authenticity of their claim, Venom contacts Millia, with whom he's made peace, and orders her to investigate the Conclave while he fulfills the contract. As it turns out, Zato-1 has been resurrected as part of the Conclave's ultimate plan and Venom was guarding the dimensional prison where Zato was being kept. Early in the story, Slayer, Millia, and Venom gather to figure out what to do with this important piece of information. They've gotten closer than anyone else, but as assassins, they're put in a difficult spot. Venom suggests to go to one of their contacts with the Postwar Administration Bureau, but Slayer quickly shoots that idea down as the PWAB answers directly to the Conclave. Then Venom brings up the High King Ky Kiske, as his views are often against the Conclave's. But when Venom goes to contact him, he's confronted by Bedman, who makes quick work of all three assassins. They're dumped in Uighur, well away from their intended course. After being reunited with Zato-1, Venom discusses Bedman's quirks, in that he appeared to be taking orders from an outside source. And when they were ready to pass along their information, Bedman interfered, suggesting that someone has eyes and ears everywhere. Unfortunately, he was unable to determine whether or not they were dealing with the Conclave. Zato-1 chooses to find Ky on his own, leaving the others behind. Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator After being dealt a harsh defeat at the hands of Bedman, Venom re-examines the path of the Guild. He says he's sort of glad they were defeated, as it let him realize what it meant to "protect the organization". He battles both Millia and Slayer in order to prove the strength of his resolve, and soon he reveals his ultimate plan: Exposing the Guild's deeds to the public and show their role in the world's affairs. Venom feared for those who dedicated their lives to the Guild and didn't want their accomplishments to be lost to history. He's fully aware of the implications, and when Slayer offers his assistance to bring about this plan, Venom readily acceptsGuilty Gear Xrd: Revelator (Venom Episode). During the events of the main story, Venom is present at Slayer's villa. They eagerly await the return of Zato-1 from his tenuous meeting with the Third King Daryl . Zato-1 confirms that the assassins can now enlist as Illyrian soldiers. While the others contemplate a celebration, Venom politely declines, citing that unless this development produces results, all of it will be for naught. He leaves the fledgling celebration, and Zato-1, in their hands. He travels to a small village and finds Robo Ky being picked on by some neighborhood kids. He hires the robot to aid him in defeating Bedman, promising to pay any asking price. As they heard towards their destination, Robo Ky demands a twelve acre tangerine orchard. Robo Ky says it's to fulfill a promise he made to a friend he once had. The pair have a long discussion regarding fate, and Venom apologizes for dragging Robo Ky into the darkness. He's told not to worry about it, and that they should be focusing on the mission at hand. While the Gears wreak havoc in Illyria, Bedman puts his own plans into action, only to be interrupted by Venom and Robo Ky. The reason that Venom hired Robo Ky soon becomes clear: it limited Bedman's ability to read minds as he's unable to detect Robo Ky's presence. After a brief scuffle, Venom summons his ultimate magic, proclaiming that in order for the Guild to be reborn in the light, he must sacrifice himself. Bedman scoffs at it despite being at a disadvantage, thinking that Venom is foolish for betting his own life. But just before Venom can fully cast his spell, the two kids that were harassing Robo Ky show up. Bedman turns his attention to them, causing Robo Ky to step in. Robo Ky tells him of the importance of society and being able to connect with others before self-destructing, separating Bedman from his bed. Venom takes the opportunity to execute his final spell, managing to kill Bedman. Unfortunately, Venom collapses from the strain and loses consciousness. In a post-credit sequence, it's shown that Robo Ky's head survived, and with his propeller, he carries Venom to an unknown location. Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2: After Story B In an unnamed Illyrian city, it shows that Venom did in fact survive at the end of Revelator's story. He's in an alleyway with a small setup similar to Robo Ky's. He planned on earning money and living in disgrace in order to pay for Robo Ky's new body. While it's more logical to set up shop in the light, Venom cannot reveal that he's still alive as it'll put the Guild's new path in jeopardy. He's one of the few people who knows about the Guild's arrangement with the Third King, hence why he insists on keeping a low profile. As they talk, they get customers. Rather, representatives of the Guild. Their commander 2cave requests a shoe shine for him and his subordinates, and as Venom obeys, they talk about the direction of the Guild. Their talk is almost completely in metaphor, referring to the assassins as wolves and Venom as the "poisonous sheep". 2cave tries to indirectly convince Venom to return, but as they chat, an Illyrian citizen stumbles upon the scene. Venom's faced with the decision to either protect this town or return to the wolves, or else they will kill the innocent bystander. Venom chooses to protect the town, and 2cave and his men back off, leaving Venom and Robo Ky a deed to a shop in the main shopping district. It's revealed that Zato-1 sent the assassins in order to test Venom's resolve, and to tell Venom that he's a human that should live a human life. Venom and Robo Ky end up opening a bakery, and while he's initially anxious that someone will find out his true identity, he has yet to be discovered. Powers & Abilities Venom is a skilled warrior and assassin. Using Magical Energy, he can create and solidify objects such as his billiard balls. He can also expertly wield his cue stick as a polearm to attack in melee combat. Using this billiard-based magic, he can control the position of his billiards and enhance their size and power. He can fire his billiards with the speed and power of a sniper shot, as shown when he accidentally shot Dizzy's human friend, JosephineGuilty Gear X Drama. He can also move at blinding speeds and can use his billiard balls as an axis point to perform teleportation. Being a normal human, he is not a vessel for an extraordinary power like Gears or those who wield Forbidden Magic, a fact that Slayer notes himself. However, he manages to bridge the gap through intense training and mastery over magic. Six years after Guilty Gear XX, both Millia and Slayer express great shock over his growth in strength. During the final battle with Bedman, he used his greatest technique known as the Terra Machina System, a last-resort spell developed by Venom that requires the wielder to pool all of his energy to materialize millions of Magic Billiards over a large radius and have them convene to form a giant cue. The opponent is locked onto and encompassed by an orb of energy, effectively becoming the "ball". The sphere itself is harmless, but it allows the cue to track and hit its target, whether they use teleportation or cross into other dimensions to escape. Unfortunately, usage of this technique is potentially fatal and nearly led to Venom's death. Musical Themes *'A Solitude That Asks Nothing in Return' - Guilty Gear X and Guilty Gear XX *'Keeper of the Unknown' - Guilty Gear XX: #Reload Korean OST *'The Irony Of Chaste' - Guilty Gear Isuka * Call Shot '- ''Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-'' Rivalry Themes * 'Existence '(vs. Assassins) - ''Guilty Gear XX * '''When Life Comes (vs. Assassins) - Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-'' Character Quotes ''See: 'Venom Quotes, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Quotes''' Allusions and References *Much like other characters in the series, Venom's name is a reference to a famous metal band. In his case, his name is a reference to the British thrash/black metal band Venom. *His ''Dark Angel Overdrive attack is named after a California-based thrash metal band. *Venom's move "Carcass Ride" (often mislocalized as "Carcass Raid") might be named for the metal band Carcass. *Venom's GGX-XX Instant Kill is called Demivolger (or Dim Bomber in some translations). When it's spoken in game, it sounds like Dimmu Borgir, which is the name of a Norwegian symphonic black metal band. Trivia *Throughout the series, his Instant Kill has him transforming his opponent into a pool ball. Every character has their own unique pool ball design. *His GGX/GGXX theme song sounds akin to "Breed to Breathe" by the grindcore band Napalm Death. *Venom's been confirmed homosexual in the "Night of Knives" drama CDs, but his feelings for Zato-1 have been hinted at throughout the series (i.e., Venom yelling Zato's name during Elphelt's Instant Kill or during Potemkin's Heavenly Potemkin Buster). *Venom's winpose where he twirls his cue is actually able to interact with any pool balls that have been setup nearby, much like all of his other cue-based moves/normals. External Links * Dustloop Forums - Accent Core Venom * Mizuumi's GG Wiki - Venom * Dustloop Wiki - GGXrd Rev2 Venom Gameplay References Navigation Category:Guilty Gear Characters Category:Humans Category:Assassins Category:Males Category:Playable Characters Category:Guilty Gear Xrd Characters